Snellville Council Meeting Notes: April 23

Snellville City Council for its second regular council meeting of the month

Here is a quick run-down of the major happenings.

1. Ceremonial Matters: A resolution in support of the

Item: Mayor and city council respond to possible closure of the Snellville Post Office.

Summary: The United States Postal Service is studying the option of closing 3,700 retail offices and converting those locations into what is called the "village post office." Those new centers would be operated by local businesses and offer postal products and services, such as stamps and flat-rate packaging.

The move comes as the USPS deals with increased costs of service. The government agency says it is no longer prudent to maintain its nearly 32,000 offices.

According to USPS officials, the is not currently on the Georgia list, which can be accessed here. However, Snellville Mayor Kelly Kautz said it wanted to get in front of the issue, just in case.

In part, the resolution read: "The Snellville Post Office has been an integral part of the Snellville community for many decades, acting as a central meeting point for many long-time citizens at a time when home delivery was not offered in our town."

2. Department Reports: Snellville Tourism & Trade Association (STAT)

Item: A STAT representative gave an update on the happenings at the Snellville community organization.

Summary: The Snellville Tourism & Trade Association reported on the upcoming farmers' market and the community garden groundbreaking.

Regarding the community garden, the groundbreaking took place on Earth Day over the weekend at Briscoe Park, with a number of city officials attending. According to the group's Facebook page, there was a a planting and composting demo by local Girl Scouts.

In a related matter, the city postponed action on garden fencing until the June 11 meeting. The fencing estimate provided by the city's planning department -- an included in the council's meeting packet -- is $54,000, which includes the cost of an ornamental metal fence, a chain-linked fence and columns.

To learn more about the community garden, check out the Facebook page by clicking here.

3. New Business: Consideration and action on the Code RED System

Item: Councilwoman Diane Krause has been leading an effort to approve a emergency notification system for the city.

Action: Based on research city officials determined that the system best fit the needs of Snellville. According to the city, CodeRED is the only system that proves direct-path alerts for storms from the National Weather Service. In addition to the $9,800 bid from CodeRED, California-based Everbridge submited a bid at $12,594.

City council members approved CodeRED contract (with the caveat that the price be negotiable if other Gwinnett County cities implement it) in a unanimous, 6-0 vote.

4. New Business: Consideration and action on award of the Briscoe Park Phase 2 contract

Item: The city of Snellville is moving into the second phase of the upgrades to Improvements will include a new soccer platform, parking and drainage work.

Action: City official initially sought bids in late 2011 for the second phase of Briscoe Park upgrades, but the bids received were all rejected. Construction decuments were then revised to reduce the scope of improvements, and then in April 2012 new bids were received and opened.

Thirteen contractors were pre-qualified for current project, and five of those contractors submitted bids. Bids ranged from $1.4 million to $1.7 million. City officials settled on the Reeves Contracting Company, and plan to pay for the project through 2005 and 2009 SPLOST funds.

The Reeves contract, valued at $1,387,317 was approved unanimously in a 6-0 vote.